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A pride of lions attacked a Japanese visitor at a Zimbabwe wildlife park last week, state media reported on Sunday.

She later died in hospital from her injuries.

The attack - thought to be the first of its kind in Zimbabwe - happened on Thursday at the Lion and Cheetah Park at Norton, 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of the capital, Harare, assistant police commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena told the Sunday Mail newspaper.

The 50-year-old woman was about to leave the park''s 20-hectare (49-acre) lion enclosure on foot with five other people from the Japanese Embassy and park employees when one of the animals attacked, Bvudzijena said.

She was rushed to Parirenyatwa Teaching Hospital in Harare, but died of her injuries the following day, the newspaper reported.

The victim''s identity was not released.

The newspaper reported that she was linked to the embassy, but did not elaborate.

It was not immediately clear what the group was doing on foot inside the enclosure.

Police, park officials and officials at the Japanese Embassy were not available to comment on Sunday.